The causal role of inferior temporal cortex in object recognition

下颞叶皮层在物体识别中的因果作用

• 批准号: 8424754
• 负责人: Arash Afraz
• 金额: $ 10.68万
• 依托单位: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-03-01 至 2015-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8424754
• 关键词: Achievement; Address; Adult; Agnosia; Animals; Area; Attenuated; Back; Behavior; Behavioral; Brain; Cells; Collaborations; Color; Commit; Complex; Detection; Development; Discrimination; Electrophysiology (science); Epilepsy; Etiology; Face; Fiber; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Goals; Hot Spot; Hour; Human; Image; Impairment; Inferior; Influentials; Injection of therapeutic agent; Interdisciplinary Study; Intervention; Laboratories; Lead; Link; Macaca; Maps; Measures; Mentors; Methods; Modeling; Monkeys; Muscimol; Neurons; Outcome; Paint; Pattern; Perception; Performance; Phase; Positioning Attribute; Process; Psychometrics; Psychophysics; Reading; Research; Resolution; Roentgen Rays; Role; Scheme; Scientist; Site; Stimulus; Sum; Techniques; Temporal Lobe; Temporal Lobe Epilepsy; Testing; Time; Tissues; Training; Virus; Vision; Visual; Work; behavior measurement; critical period; design; feeding; information processing; innovation; insight; neural prosthesis; neurophysiology; novel; object recognition; optical fiber; optogenetics; preconditioning; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; research study; response; skills; spatiotemporal; therapy development; tool; visual stimulus

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The inferior temporal (IT) cortex is associated with a primary function; visual object recognition. However, the main body of evidence for the role of IT neural activity in object recognition is only correlational. The potential causal role of the IT neurons in behavior and perception has remained largely unexplored. In the proposed research, I will systematically study the causal role of IT neural representations in visual object recognition. In Aim 1, I will study the causal role of anatomically defined sub-regions of IT corte in object recognition behavior. Specifically, by local muscimol injection, in each experimental session I will inactivate a small sub- region of IT cortex and measure the effect of its inactivatin on psychophysical performance for a set of object recognition tasks. This will be done systematically for the entire anatomical span of IT cortex to map the causal role of different parts of the cortex in a set of object recognition tasks. I will also measure the neural stimulus selectivity in the targeted areas to investigate to relationship between neural selectivity (a correlational measure) and the behavioral impact of the causal intervention. In Aim 2, I will investigate the causal role of different temporal segments of the IT neural response profile in object recognition behavior. Through correlational studies, it has been shown that early and late segments of the temporal response profile of IT neurons carry different information about visual objects. However, we don't know yet if the brain mechanisms that create behavior actually discriminate between these temporal segments and use their information in object recognition behavior. To address this question, using rapid optogenetic silencing, I will inactivate various time segments of the IT neural response profile to measure the causal role of each segment in a set of object recognition tasks. In sum, this endeavor aims at establishing a systematic causal link between IT neural representation of information (in spatial and temporal domains) and object recognition behavior. The proposed work will be started in the laboratory of Jim DiCarlo at MIT with close collaboration with the laboratory of Ed Boyden at MIT. Dr. DiCarlo is a committed mentor who leads a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary research group that studies object recognition. Dr Boyden is an enthusiastic scientist and one of the leaders of optogenetic research who will help me in development of the technical skills required for a part of this proposal. During the mentored phase of the project (K99: Aim 1 and the pilot phase of Aim 2), I will acquire training in techniques for high precision X-ray localization and mapping of IT cortex, pharmacological inactivation and optogenetics providing an experimental platform for transition to an independent position in the second phase (R00: Aim 2) of the research.

描述（由申请人提供）：次级（IT）皮质与主要功能相关联；视觉对象识别。但是，IT神经活动在对象识别中作用的主要证据仅是相关的。 IT神经元在行为和感知中的潜在因果作用在很大程度上尚未探索。在拟议的研究中，我将系统地研究IT神经表示在视觉对象识别中的因果作用。在AIM 1中，我将研究IT Corte在对象识别行为中的解剖学子区域的因果作用。具体而言，通过局部Muscimol注入，在每个实验会议中，我将使IT皮层的一个小区域失活，并测量其无活化素对一组对象识别任务的心理物理性能的影响。这将在IT皮层的整个解剖学跨度中系统地进行，以在一组对象识别任务中绘制皮质不同部分的因果作用。我还将测量目标区域中的神经刺激选择性，以调查与神经选择性（一种相关度量）与因果干预的行为影响之间的关系。在AIM 2中，我将研究IT神经反应概况不同时间段在对象识别行为中的因果关系。通过相关研究，已经表明，IT神经元的时间响应特征的早期和晚期具有有关视觉对象的不同信息。但是，我们还不知道产生行为的大脑机制是否实际上会区分这些时间段，并在对象识别行为中使用其信息。为了解决这个问题，使用快速的光遗传沉默，我将灭活IT神经反应谱的各个时间段，以测量每个段在一组对象识别任务中的因果作用。总而言之，这项努力旨在建立IT信息神经表示（在空间和时间域）和对象识别行为之间的系统因果关系。拟议的工作将在麻省理工学院的吉姆·迪卡洛（Jim Dicarlo）实验室与麻省理工学院的埃德·博伊登（Ed Boyden）实验室密切合作。 DiCarlo博士是一位坚定的导师，他领导了一个高度合作的跨学科研究小组，研究对象识别。博伊登博士是一位热情的科学家，也是光遗传学研究的领导者之一，他将帮助我发展一部分提案所需的技术技能。在项目的指导阶段（K99：AIM 1和AIM 2的试点阶段），我将获得有关高精度X射线定位和IT皮层映射的技术培训， 药理灭活和光遗传学为在研究的第二阶段（R00：AIM 2）过渡提供了一个实验平台。